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Saturday July 31, 2010

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Should Kmart trade on ANZAC Day?

Posted by: Derryn Hinch | 1 March, 2010 - 1:39 PM
Kmart Sydney stores to extend trading hours to midnight

Let's look at an issue that comes up every Easter and every Anzac Day and at Christmas.

The debate over shopping hours. It's on again because in New South Wales KMart has applied to the state government for permission to start trading before 1pm on Anzac Day.

It's application says:

"Kmart submits that there is a desire within the community to see our stores open before 1pm on Anzac Day."

"Customers who are used to being able to shop at any time would potentially be severely inconvenienced by our closure. In short, they would not be able to obtain necessity items when they want."

"The department store also wants to open on Easter Sunday and Boxing Day for the next three years because it says shopping is an important 'leisure activity'."

Well that's partly true. I can see no reason why shops shouldn't be open any hours they like at Christmas and over Easter. They are religious holidays and if you are not religious, or of that religion, it means nothing to you.

The world changes. Remember when Sunday was a ghost day. You couldn't buy meat from noon Saturday until Monday morning. I remember times at Easter and Christmas when bread wasn't baked for about five days.

But Anzac Day is different. I believe it is a special day. And I believe  closing shops and other services until noon is a mark of respect and the argument about  customers being 'severely inconvenienced' is pretty thing when you consider how  'severely inconvenienced' thousands of diggers were by dying in distant lands to protect our freedom. And our right to shop and play sport 364-1/2 days of the year.

Your thoughts? Do you support the idea?

Blog comments Your Say

  • sure you made a point mate but anzac day is important and it is time for the family to be together like chrismas and eastrer plus we need those days of no work and no pressures and to remember the season or in this case our soldiers that were left behind. as to it opening look at normal public holidays usualy big shops are closed and small corner stores are open that is how it has been for years now and it is fine that thease little stores open because there independent and sometimes they need that day to keep there busness alive and K mart owns many store and gain much more than the average corner store
    see why you shouldn;t open kmart you would be changing our simple tradition and if it goes ahead for anZac day what next easter and chrismas this is australia and although multicultural it is our home and the war of all things concerns all or us humans no matter what race

    Kyle winters Friday 30 April, 2010 - 12:16 PM

  • 3AW broadcast all day on anzac day and took advertising revenue. What hypocrites.

    mylene Tuesday 27 April, 2010 - 4:27 PM

  • This is simple. I respect my grandfathers efforts hugely and to the extent that K-Mart must practice it's right to do what it wants and consumers should do what they feel is the right thing to do. Enough hypocrisy and embrace your freedoms EVERY SECOND of your life. No concessions.

    John K Tuesday 27 April, 2010 - 9:09 AM

  • Bet those who do not want the shops opens to day will be too drunk to do any shopping or high on drugs.
    All Asian shops and other ethnic shops will be open early.

    taxpayer Sunday 25 April, 2010 - 6:38 AM

  • K-Mart should not be open on Anzac Day morning. If people feel that they will be severely disadvantaged by not being able to shop for 4 hours I would suggest that they think ahead and buy their 'necessity items' the day before, and if they feel deprived of a 'leisure activity' for 4 hours I would suggest they have a serious look at themselves as they are in serious trouble. It wouldn't really be all about potential profits for this overseas based company would it? I hope more people boycott this store than patronise it.

    chris Tuesday 30 March, 2010 - 6:35 PM

  • Here we are discussing commercial trade on Anzac Day, and yet we have an 'incident' near Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, near the North/South Korea maritime border, where a South Korean ship has been sunk, apparently torpedoed. This is not a good sign for world peace.

    Lenny Saturday 27 March, 2010 - 7:37 AM

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